One year sampling (2011–2012) campaign of airborne PM2.5-bound PAH was performed in Zaragoza, Spain. A source apportionment of total PAH by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was applied in order to quantify potential PAH pollution sources.Four sources were apportioned: coal combustion, vehicular emissions, stationary emissions and unburned/evaporative emissions. Although Directive 2004/107/EC was fulfilled regarding benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), episodes exceeding the limit value of PM2.5 according to Directive 2008/50/EC were found. These episodes of high negative potential for human health were studied, obtaining a different pattern for the exceedances of PM2.5 and the lower assessment threshold of BaP (LATBaP). In both cases, stationary emissions contributed majority to total PAH. Lifetime cancer risk exceeded the unit risk recommended by the World Health Organization for those episodes exceeding the LATBaP and the PM2.5 exceedances for the warm season. For the cold season, the risk was higher for the LATBaP than for the PM2.5 exceedances.

We examined and compared PM2.5 concentrations in urban and the surrounding regions, and further investigated the impact of urbanization on urban PM2.5 concentrations at the Chinese prefectures. Annual PM2.5 concentrations in most prefectures were greater than 10 μg/m3, the air quality guideline of the World Health Organization. Those prefectures were mainly distributed along the east coast and southeast of Sichuan province; The urban PM2.5 concentrations (UrbanPM2.5) in 85 cities were greater than (>10 μg/m3) those in the surrounding area. Those cities were mainly located in the Beijing–Sichuan and Shanghai–Guangxi belts. In addition, UrbanPM2.5 was less than (<0 μg/m3) that in surrounding areas in only 41 prefectures, which were located in western China or nearby mega cities; Significant positive correlations were found between UrbanPM2.5 and urban population (R2 = 0.99, P < 0.05), and between UrbanPM2.5 and urban second industry fraction (R2 = 0.71, P < 0.05), suggesting that urbanization had considerable impact on PM2.5 concentrations.

Seventeen commercially important marine fish species were caught in Mumbai Harbor using a trawl net and evaluated using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and ICP-OES. It was found that certain species of fish contained lower levels of all metals tested. J. elongatus and C. dussumieri had the highest levels of all 8 metals tested. The heavy metal concentrations were significantly varied within and between the studied fishes (p<0.05). However, a significant correlation among heavy metals was observed. This investigation indicated that various levels of heavy metals exist in the fish species sampled, but those concentrations are within the maximum residual levels recommended by the European Union and FAO/WHO. Therefore, fish caught in Mumbai Harbor can be considered safe for human consumption.

Muscles of 115 North Pacific albacore (ALB, Thunnus alalunga) and 75 Pacific bigeye tuna (BET, Thunnus obesus), collected from 2001 to 2006, were analyzed. No ALB, but 13 large BET had organic mercury (OHg) concentrations exceeding 1μgg−1 wet weight. For both ALB and BET, total mercury (THg) and OHg concentrations were significantly and positively correlated with fork length (FL) and body weight. The muscle Hg bioaccumulation rates of BET were higher than those of ALB, particularly in the adult fish. Moreover, the lines had crossover points among the two species that imply the young BET (FL<110cm) contains lower muscle Hg concentrations than ALB of the same size. The suggested weekly dietary intake of ALB and small-BET meats is 340g, and of BET meat it is 150g for a 60-kg person based on the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of methylmercury set by the WHO.

Recently, the World Health Organization’s International Association for Research on Cancer classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans and puts air pollution in the same category as tobacco smoke, UV radiation, and plutonium. The ambient air is polluted by emissions from motor vehicles, industrial processes, power generation, household combustion of solid fuel, and other sources. Dust storms lead to particulate levels that exceed internationally recommended levels, especially near the Sahara. However, this source of air pollution appears to be under-studied, particularly in the literature devoted to human health impacts in West Africa. More than 50 % of the total dust emitted into the atmosphere comes from the Sahara. These aerosols contribute to increase the concentrations of particles smaller than 10 μm (PM₁₀), which are breathable particles. This study is the first designed to assess the real impact of Saharan dust on air quality and respiratory health of children in a region of West Africa. Dust events having affected the Northern Benin during the dry seasons between 2003 and 2007 were determined. The analyzed health data are the monthly rates of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI). Over the entire study period, 61 days of dust events were observed in the region. They recorded on average a daily PM₁₀concentration of 1017 μg m⁻³, more than 18 times higher than that calculated on all days without dust events. The study also highlighted a mean increase of 12.5 % of ALRI rates during the months recording dust events. The use of daily health data should help to refine these initial results in the future.

A pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) was designed and built to produce biogeochemical conditions promoting processes targeted for removal of arsenic from simulated Bangladesh groundwater. Two CWTS series were designed to promote coprecipitation and sorption of arsenic with iron oxyhydroxides under oxidizing conditions, and two series were designed to promote precipitation of arsenic sulfide and coprecipitation of arsenic with iron sulfide under reducing conditions. Arsenic removal performance was greater in series with oxidizing conditions than in series with reducing conditions (mean outflow concentrations of 64 and 108 μg L⁻¹, respectively). Additions of zero-valent iron (ZVI) to oxidizing series and to reducing series enhanced arsenic removal (mean removal efficiencies of 72 and 42 %, respectively) compared to unamended series (27 and 20 %, respectively). Arsenic removal performance was significantly greater (α = 0.05) in the oxidizing series amended with ZVI than in the other series, with removal extents, efficiencies, and rate coefficients ranging from 6 to 79 μg L⁻¹, 40 to 95 %, and 0.13 to 0.77 day⁻¹, respectively. Results from this pilot-scale study demonstrate that a CWTS can decrease concentrations of arsenic in arsenic-contaminated water to below the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water quality guideline of 10 μg L⁻¹.

Scientific concern exists about the toxic effect of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p, p′-DDE) and lindane on male infertility, and the mechanism underlying male reproductive toxicity of this pesticide remains unanswered. We investigated not only the possible association between the chlorinated pesticide levels and semen quality in nonoccupationally exposed men, but also the probable mode of action using mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LPO), and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). A study in 278 men (21–40 years old) who visited Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, KGMU, Lucknow, for semen analysis was conducted. We performed semen analysis according to the WHO guidelines, while p, p′-DDE and lindane analysis was done by the GLC and LPO by the spectrophotometer, and the sperm mitochondrial status, ROS, and SCSA with the flow cytometer. The questionnaire data showed no significant difference in the demographic characteristics between the two groups, i.e., trying to conceive >1 year and proven fertility. However, a significant difference in the concentration of p, p′-DDE and lindane was observed between the groups. When the subjects were divided among four categories by quartile of exposure, the subjects in the highest quartile showed low sperm motility as compared to the subjects in the lowest quartile. Pearson’s correlation showed a significant negative correlation between semen p, p′-DDE, lindane level, and sperm quality and positive association with the number of cells with depolarized mitochondria, elevation in ROS production and LPO, and DNA fragmentation index (DFI). The findings are suggestive that these toxicants might cause a decline in semen quality, and these effects might be ROS, LPO, and mitochondrial dysfunction mediated.

In this work, protein phosphatase inhibition assays (PPIAs) have been used to evaluate the performance of recombinant PP1 and recombinant and wild-type PP2As. The enzymes have been compared using microcystins-LR (MC-LR) as a model cyanotoxin. Whereas PP2ARₑcprovides a limit of detection (LOD) of 3.1 μg/L, PP1Rₑcand PP2AWᵢₗdprovide LODs of 0.6 and 0.5 μg/L, respectively, lower than the guideline value proposed by the World Health Organization (1 μg/L). The inhibitory potencies of seven MC variants (-LR, -RR, -dmLR, -YR, -LY, -LW and -LF) have been evaluated, resulting on 50 % inhibition coefficient (IC₅₀) values ranging from 1.4 to 359.3 μg/L depending on the MC variant and the PP. The PPIAs have been applied to the determination of MC equivalent contents in a natural cyanobacterial bloom and an artificially contaminated sample, with multi-MC profiles. The inhibition equivalency factors (IEFs) have been applied to the individual MC quantifications determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis, and the estimated MC-LR equivalent content has been compared to PPIA results. PPIAs have demonstrated to be applicable as MC screening tools for environmental applications and to protect human and animal health.

The aim of the present study was to describe the accumulation of trace metals in the liver, kidney, gills, muscles, and skin of four edible fish species (Tor putitora, Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo calbasu, and Channa punctatus) of Rawal Lake Reservoir, Pakistan. The fish samples were collected in the pre-monsoon (May 2008) and post-monsoon (October 2007) seasons and were analyzed for heavy metals by using an atomic absorption spectrometer. Kidney and liver showed relatively high concentrations of heavy metals. The accumulation of metals in the different organs of the fish (skin, muscles, and gills) in post-monsoon was higher than in pre-monsoon. In pre-monsoon, the metals followed the trend Zn > Pb > Fe > Cr > Ni > Mn > Co > Cu > Cd > Li, while in the post-monsoon season, the trend was Fe > Pb > Cr > Ni > Zn > Cu > Co > Mn > Cd > Li. The concentrations of Ni, Cr, and Pb in the muscle of all fish species were higher than the WHO guideline values of heavy metals in fishes for human consumption except in T. putitora. Cu level was nearly equal to the WHO maximum levels in C. mrigala and L. calbasu, while it was lower in T. putitora and C. punctatus. It is strongly advocated that risk assessment studies should be conducted and there is an urgent need for water quality restoration and management of Rawal Lake Reservoir.

The discharge of untreated or inadequately treated effluents has been identified among the activities responsible for the spread of a wide range of potentially infectious agents. The aim of this study was to determine whether inadequate treatment of wastewater and the faecal pollution load of effluents and receiving water bodies in Sedibeng District and Soshanguve peri-urban area of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality could be a potential threat to the health of the surrounding communities. Variations in the counts of faecal indicator bacteria and pathogenic microorganisms and compliance of the effluents and receiving water bodies with South African and World Health Organization standards were assessed between August 2011 and May 2012 using culture-based methods and molecular techniques. The overall quality of effluents did not comply with the South African special standard of no risk for unrestricted irrigation (zero Escherichia coli/100 ml). The quality of the receiving water bodies did not comply with South African regulatory limits set for domestic purposes (zero E. coli/100 ml, <30 faecal enterococci/100 ml and <1 somatic coliphages/100 ml), for full contact recreation (<20 somatic coliphages/100 ml) and aquaculture (<10 E. coli/100 ml) and WHO standards for full and intermediate contact recreational use (<1 E. coli/100 ml and <40 faecal enterococci/100 ml, respectively). The PCR results revealed the prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms; between 0 and 60 % of samples tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium and Shigella dysenteriae, and between 20 and 60 % of samples tested positive for Vibrio cholerae. These findings demonstrated that potential health risks might be associated with the use of the target river waters for domestic, recreational and irrigation purposes. This study calls for a prompt intervention to improve wastewater management.